The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1887-03-18
THE DEATH ROLL "a,
INVESTIGATION REDUCES THE LIST
OF FATALITIES
IN TIE GREAT RAILROAD ACCIDENT
NEAR BOSTON.

NEAR BOSTON.
The Condition OF the Injursd.The Rail
road Commissioners' Inquiry Begun
Trains Running 1t Moderate speed-
Theories of the Accident.
Boston, March 15.-The scene OF the ter
rible railroad accident on the West Rox
bury and Dedham branch Of tho Boston &
Providence railroad yesterday morning was
at the Bussey woods bridge, which crosses
South street just midway between Roslin
dale and Forest Hills stations The local
train from Dedham was made up with an
engine, baggage car, and nine passenger
cars, including smoker, the latter being the
rear car As the train approached the bridge
in question, the passengers felt a sudden
jolting of the cars, followed almost instantly
by forward shooting movement, and in
stantly, with a terrible crash, the five rear
cars plunged through the bridge into the
street below, distance Of between 25 and
80 feet.
In the space of roadway under the bridge,
then, in the space of $50 feet between abut.
ment and abutment, there were in an in
slant piled up the debris of six cars, inter-
woven almost inextricably with the trusses
and girders Of the iron bridge, and within
and among which the passengers were held
fast or writhing in distress, some of them
crushed almost beyond the recognition of
the human shape, and one or two of them
beheaded. To such as had power to moy6
the means Of extrication were mads the
easier by the completeness of the wreck,
for the sides and ends of the q 10 were
often smashed out. leaving me Il or less
free egress. But in the two fars which
struck the abutment, the scsne was fearful.
The wooden debris was piled up about one
of the stoves, and was on the very point
of setting ths wreck on fire when the
earliest arrivals at the scene and those
who had already succeeded in extricating
themselves unhurt succeeded in dragging
the stove out through the broken walls of
the car and depositing it upon the roadway.
None OF the other stoves were smashed, for
a wonder, sufficiently to ignite the wreck
with their burning contents, and the work
Of extricating the dead and wounded began.
Never was such duty more expeditiously
and thoroughly performed. Under the su-
pervision Of the officers Of the road, who
arrived very promptly, the dead and injured
We're quickly taken out. And never was a
Ira;!road wreck where there had bean
large loss Of life moro promptly deserted
by all who had suffered In II. The fact
that the accident occurred In the midst of a
settled suburban district, and that nobody
upon the train was more than five miles
away from home, made it possible to trans
port the dead and injured, SO far as it was
practicable under the circumstances, directly
<o% nns,, 1,osv nd fob
The majority of the injured remaining were
taken to Roslindale station, and others 6i
rectly into Boston and sent to the city hos
pital in ambulances.
BOSTON, March 16-None of the persons
wounded in the accident on the Dedham
branch railroad on Monday have died, and
the number of dead 80 Tar as known is
twenty -four The railroad commissioners
have begun their investigation into the dis
aster. The engineer testified that tae train
was running not faster than fifteen miles
an hour when the bridge went down.
Some of the wounded lie yet in criti-
cal condition, and Others, of whom no hopes
were entertained, have showed signs Of re-
covery.
The condition of Henry D. Humphrey of
Dedham, whose injuries were reported as
slight, turns out to be quite serious, and
doubts are expressed as to his recovery.
Leverett Weeks, of Dedham, is much
worse injured than was supposed, and iu
addition to an examination of his wounds
by physicians of Dedham, four surgeons
from Boston have visited him. His head
is severely injured, but the wound in his
leg causes the most apprehension. A rod
or some round iron substance passed
through the leg near the knee pan, and one
of the dangers to be feared at present is
blood poisoning, which, if found to exist,
will require immediate amputation Of the
limb.
1t is feared that John H. Drayton, of
Dedham, who is at the city hospital, will
los, his arm, as someof the bones are
thought to be crushed.
Several persons in the excitement after
the disaster did not realize that they had
been injured, but on reaching home found
that they had broken bones Among the
number was Fred Smith. of Dedham, who
has one or more ribs fractured
Conductor Webster Drake, who at one
time was considered to be fatally ,rt, is
more comfortable, and the physici ms think
that he will recover.
The Dead.